


Glass, Broken

by Aoife, Night-Mare (Aoife)



Category: Honor Harrington Series - David Weber
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Book: The Honor of the Queen, Multi, Tags to be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-15 08:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 2,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9226745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aoife/pseuds/Aoife, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aoife/pseuds/Night-Mare
Summary: Honor returns to Grayson for a short period before taking command of Nike, and it changes things.





	1. Admiralty House, Landing, Manticore

{…}"Put Harrington into something 'sedate'? Lord, she'd be chewing the bulkheads inside a week!" He laughed again at the earl's expression and leaned back in his chair. "Sorry," he said, not sounding particularly sorry, "but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to twist your tail after all the grief you've given me over her. As a matter of fact, Lucien and I, um, overruled BuMed while you were out at Hancock. We figure she's up to snuff whatever the psycho-babblers think, so we're throwing her right back into the deep end."

"Deep end?"{…}*

"Indeed. We decided we'd give her Nike last week. The only reason she's not aboard yet is that she's out on Grayson at the Protector's invitation - the Queen was insistant she should accept - and her exec's as good as they come; Mike Henke?"

"Elizabeth's cousin?"

"Yes. She and Honor were good friends at the academy, and they work well together tactically. Intention was that we'd make her one of your squadron flagships at Yeltsin - the Graysons will appreciate that."

Hamish tapped his chin. "As much as it might make my life easier, I think sending her to Hancock station to act as Mark Sarnow's flagship would be a better option."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *some text in this section taken verbatim from The Short Victorous War


	2. Protector's Palace, Austin City, Grayson

"It's so good to see you again Honor. And you too, Nimitz." The treecat bobbed his head from his position on Honor's shoulder, and flirted his tail in pleasure at being acknowledged.

"Harrington House isn't quite inhabitable yet, and you don't have an Austin City town house, so we've set aside a suite of rooms for you in the family wing of Protector's Palace, -" Benjamin wagged his finger when Honor tried to refuse. "- and no, this is something you don't get to refuse, Honor Stephanie Harrington. The Star of Grayson is rarely awarded, and it makes you my champion - and my champion is a member of my family. Likewise a Steadholder has personal armsmen, and we already have volunteers to act as yours - and they all owe you debts of honor - to refuse their oaths and their service would be to disgrace them immensely." He paused for a moment. "And for Nimitz for the moment, one of the palace's greenhouse domes is open to him - it's earth based with some small wildlife. There's celery as well." Nimitz bleeked in delight.

"You'll spoil us both, Protector."

"Benjamin, please, Honor. What did I say about my champion being part of my family?"


	3. Protector's Palace, Austin City, Grayson

Benjamin made a small gesture, and the one armsman in the room, dressed in what she now realised was the green she'd chosen to be the Harrington colors came forward. He dropped gracefully to one knee, before looking up at her, and meeting her eyes unflinchingly.

"Steadholder Harrington. This is Captain Andrew LaFollet, formerly of Palace Security; his elder brother was one of my personal armsmen. When he realised you were returning to Grayson earlier than we previously planned, he petitioned me for permission to do this." Nimitz chose that moment to open a link to the young armsmen in front of her, and when she tasted the sincerity, the devotion - and the love - from both men, she was stunned long enough for the armsman to begin to speak.

"I recognize you," he said, his voice soft yet clear as he spoke the ancient formula, "and I know you. Before God, Maker and Tester of us all; before His Son, Who died to intercede for us all; and before the Holy Comforter, I will stand before you in the Test of life and at your back in battle. I will protect and guard your life with my own. Your honor is my honor, your heritage is mine to guard, and I will fail not in this trust, though it cost me my life."

LaFollet extended his own hand, fingers opened, and she placed her own palm against his.

"I accept your oath, Andrew LaFollet; you are now my sword and my shield.-" She smiled ruefully, "and I am yours to watch and guard, to ward and instruct." She broke protocol, and gripped his hand and pulled him to his feet.

"I hope you realised what you were getting yourself into, Captain LaFollet."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some text in this section taken from _At All Costs_ \- with minor modifications made to make oath suitable for Honor rather than Raoul.


	4. Family Wing, Protector's Palace, Austin City, Grayson

Honor settled back into the plush and comfortable cushions of an exceedingly luxurious chair one of the living room in the family wing of the Protector's Palace, watching the girls cuddle with Nimitz in front of the fire with Elaine and Katherine, and trying to ignore the five armsmen in Mayhew red and yellow (and the single armsman in Harrington green).

Nimitz had left the general link to the room open, and she could feel the shadow of her new armsman's devotion (which unnerved her, truth be told) and the respect of the Mayhew armsmen; there was the delight of the three girls curled up in front of the fire with Nimitz as the eldest, Rachel, read a story quietly and then there was the curiosity of Katherine.

Honor's lips quirked into a smile. "You may as well ask me the question, Katherine. Curiosity killed the 'cat after all, and we wouldn't want anything to happen to Nimitz …"

Benjamin's wives exchanged looks, and Elaine's hand brushed her slight bump gently.

"Is there anyone _special_ in your life, Honor?" Elaine asked softly. "You've been so good with the girls, -" Nimitz's head popped up abruptly from the puddle of little girls on the rug at her reaction to those words, but Honor did her best to tamp down the emotions and pushed a picture of him staying where he was down their link, "- and if you're worried about your career, any children of yours would always be welcome in the palace nurseries." 

'I don't have much interest in men, I'm afraid, Elaine. A ... and really? Who would want an overgrown horse like me?" Her fingers tightened around the glass in her hand and it shattered, pouring the remainder of her Old Tilman over her lap, and digging several large shards of glass into her hand.

Nimitz was around her neck almost immediately, while she could see three of the armsmen herding (and carrying in one case) the Mayhew daughters out of the room, while Katherine went for a first aid kit and her personal armsman commed for a medic.

Elaine just continued to mutter soothing words until the medic arrived, exchanging concerned looks with her sister-wife all the while.


	5. Nursery, Protector's Palace, Austin City, Grayson

"Mommas, what's wrong with Lady Honor?" Rachel's question surprised her mothers, and they looked at each other warily before answering.

"Do you remember me telling you how not all men were like your father or your armsman, Rachel?" the little girl nodded. "We think that she ran into one of those bad men, and something happened."

"But you're going to help her, right Momma Katherine? You and Momma Elaine, and Daddy, can show her that she has nothing to be afraid of, right?" the two women looked at each other over their daughter's head, and communicated in the silent manner that always being surrounded by armsmen had taught them.

"We'll certainly try to, poppet. Now ... I believe it's time _someone_ was in bed." As both of them were pregnant, one of the armsmen stepped forward and scooped the sleepy little girl up to take her off to bed.


	6. Corridors of the Family Wing, Protector's Palace, Austin City, Grayson

"Did our daughter just suggest what I _think_ she suggested, Katherine?" 

Benjamin's tiny senior wife simply raised an eyebrow at her sister-wife. "She is _undeniably_ attractive, Elaine."

The younger woman laughed. "Mhmm. And Ben _definitely_ agrees." She licked her lips at the memory of having teased that admission from their husband. It had been a _very_ interesting evening.

"If she was a _Grayson_ , this would be far easier. Perhaps -? No. That wouldn't work." A furrow formed between Katherine's brows, and the other woman lent forward and smoothed them away gently with her thumb.

"Why don't we ask Nimitz, sister-mine? He certainly knows most of what Honor isn't telling us, and he's certainly proven capable of Yes/No Answers." Katherine's grin was sudden, and breath taking, and she offered a hand to her sister-wife.


	7. Women's Quarters, Protector's Palace, Austin City, Grayson

A smile bloomed on Elaine's lips, and Katherine cocked her head in inquiry. 

"Go love Benjamin for us both, sister-mine." She picked up a soft bristled hairbrush from her vanity table, and Katherine's eyes widened thoughtfully, and waved her sister-wife from their shared dressing room. Elaine laughed softly, and scooped up her favourite dressing gown and left a trail of clothes behind her, even as Katherine stripped down and reached for a lacy confection from the shelf tucked up on the higest shelf in one corner of the room (all the items on that shelf held one thing in common; they made Benjamin Mayhew, the Protector of Grayson's brain switch off, and turned him into putty in their hands).

"And Elaine? Come and join us when you're done." Elaine's head turned, and that smile was worth every moment of jealousy that Katherine had suffered over the idea of sharing Benjamin with a sister-wife.


	8. Honour's Suite, Protector's Palace, Austin City, Grayson

Honor's suite was less than a hundred feet from the complex of rooms that Benjamin and Katherine and Elaine shared with each other (although it _was_ in the opposite direction to the nurseries, which had gradually expanded into occupying most of a wing of the Protector's Palace, as the family could get _very_ large in some generations). It's previous occupant had been one of Benjamin's youngest sisters (one of the beauties of her generation, to whom he'd forever be an over-protective pest), who had married into the Yanakov family less than a year before First Yeltsin, but until that point had been spoilt rotten by her older brother (and defended as viciously) and as a result was beautifully decorated.

Andrew LaFollet stood at something she recognised as parade rest outside of the door (she wondered if he was catering to what Honor was used to as a naval captain, or if she ordered him to be somewhere else and he'd chosen to interpret it in his own fashion) and she held up a finger to lips quirked in a mischevious grin. He was doing his best to maintain a neutral expression, but she could see the amusement in his eyes, and he opened the door for her with a whispered "if I can't trust her in your hands, Madam, who am I to trust?". Her own armsman took up a position mirroring Andrew even as she slipped into the darkened room.

"Honor?" She made the word a question, and heard an answering bleek from the study. Padding quietly across the sitting room, she pushed the door open to find Nimitz sitting on the desk, tail swishing much as that of an old earth cat, Honor asleep in the chair behind it, the glow of the comm terminal illuminating her face. The 'cat leapt down from the desk and sauntered across to her, and plucked at the hem of her dressing gown in unmistakeable command. The corners of her mouth quirked up.

"So how do I wake her up, Nimitz? She shouldn't be sleeping like that. She'll just hurt more in the morning." He bleeked and leapt lightly onto the arm of Honor's chair, and then patted the augmented side of her face gently.

It was like a switch had been flicked. One moment Honor had been asleep, and the next she was to all apearances wide awake (though Elaine could see the sleepiness still in her eyes), with a slightly startled expression on her face that made Elaine want to hug her.

"Madam Mayhew -" Honor's eyes widened, and Nimitz bleeked in amusement. Elaine shifted her focus and raised an eyebrow at the 'cat, whose grin simply got wider and wider, till he resembled nothing so much as the Cheshire Cat from the pre-diaspora "Alice in Wonderland".

"I came to check on your hand, Honor, and to offer an ear if you need one." Elaine waited and then blinked, suddenly putting together several things she'd observed. Instead of asking her, though, she concetrated on affection and honesty and comfort and watched a whole host of answering emotions flash in the back of Honor's eyes.

Honor's concious response, when it came, was not to speak, but to wordlessly hold out her injured hand to Elaine.

Who stepped around the desk and then perched on the edge of it, before cradling it in one - far smaller - hand. Concentrating on what she hoped were comforting emotions, Elaine ran a single finger carefully over the several glued shut cuts.

"You scared us Honor. I'm glad that there was no serious damage done, and I'm _sorry_." Even as she said it, she almost wanted to take it back as a tear welled at the corner of Honor's natural eye. Making a split second decision she did something that shouldn't have worked. She pulled on Honor's wrist, and the Manticoran followed the tug without resisting, until Elaine had her wrapped in a hug that should have looked silly, but after a moment of non-responsiveness, Honor was hugging her back, and Nimitz was purring (inanely, Elaine wondered if he was telling Honor "I told you so" in some fashion).


	9. Protector's Palace, Austin City, Grayson

Elaine pulled the door to Honor's assigned bedroom mostly closed (and resolved to ask Nimitz about 'cat flaps, given that most of the doors in the palace were hinged and weighted rather than automated) and looked across the room into Nimitz's eyes, which glowed from reflected light. She felt mildly ridiculous for her sudden urge to justify herself to the 'cat, but from the things she'd been able to research, and observation of the 'cat and Honor, she really shouldn't.

"We won't hurt her, Nimitz." The 'cat bleeked and nodded as if to agree. "And she's attractive, but she doesn't think she is." He nodded again. She made the decision she hadn't been willing to ask him earlier. "Is she attracted to me or Katherine or Benjamin, Nimitz?" The 'cat looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded decisively. Three times. "Is she -, no I'm going to leave it there. Benjamin and Katherine are waiting for me, and it's not like we need to rush things, is it?"

She slipped back out of the door of Honor's suite and pulled the door shut until it clicked. Andrew LaFollet was still patiently standing guard over his new steadholder, and Elaine muttered a quiet prayer «Tester forgive us». "Major LaFollet, do you have any sisters who might be interested in being Lady Harrington's Lady's maid?"

"I do, Madam Mayhew. Miranda -" Andrew paused for a moment, trying to think how to phrase his response, and Elaine winced as she remembered the briefings in the aftermath of the Maccabeus coup. 

"Her fiance was one of the armsmen we lost, wasn't he, Andrew? I recognise her name." He nodded. "Do you think she would be willing to serve Lady Harrington."

"I think so, Madam Mayhew. She needs something ..." He trailed off, reluctant to say that they had been worried about losing Miranda in the aftermath of her fiance's death. She would have been his senior wife, so there were no children to live for, no sister-wife for company.


	10. Greenhouse Dome, Protector's Palace

The 'cat was being stalked by an armsman in Harrington green, and he thought it was hilarious, and they should probably talk to the-now-Major LaFollet about that, before an Armsman First Class ran into the 'cat's sense of humor and came a cropper. But he'd stopped leading the proposterously earnest young man a merry chase when they'd walked into the dome, and had come racing toward them like a cream-and-grey streak of lightening.

It was an enlightening conversation, for all it was restricted to yes/no answers. (Elaine suspected that he and Honor had a number of signs that they used without thinking, or contrary to the publically available information, there was some sort of two way communication between the two of them, because the two of them had demonstrated something well beyond a capability for yes/no answers in the double handful of days since they'd got the pair of them back on planet.) It was an enlightening conversation, for all it was frustrating and left them her itching to ask the High Admiral for her Manticoran personnel file (there was no way Wesley hadn't got a copy, and she suspected it would answer a lot of questions). The 'cat had, however confirmed that she was more stable than she been in the aftermath of their unfortunate question about the possibility of an heir; no. That was the wrong word. Her first impressions of Honor had been that of a strong, dominant woman, significantly older than her apparent years ...

... second impressions revealed a woman younger than her actual years (almost younger than her apparent years, and Elaine wondered if that was related to the fact that she hadn't been faced with any of those childhood losses so familiar to the sons and daughters of Grayson. To never had gone to bed with one of your mothers pregnant and wake up to tears over and over again, or siblings dying from things you knew the outside galaxy could cure, and grandparents you were lucky to have into your teens), simultaneously as fragile and as strong as a cut crystal vase, and as beautiful, brilliant and sharp edged as it too (and an irreverent thought; did that make Nimitz super glue or some sort of emotional gyroscope?). She wanted to wrap her in cotton wool, and keep her safe, for all she knew that that Honor would wither under that sort of treatment. The best thing they could do for her right now was allow her to fly free and be somewhere for her to come home to. The future could bring more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't read "Let's Dance" which is set before "On Basilisk Station" you may assume I'm referring to the sign language all the 'cats end up learning, but I'm not. At various points in Canon prior to that Honor and Nimitz are shown to use a handful of highly personalised signs.

**Author's Note:**

> [Somewhere to leave ideas ...](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/Aoife_Prompt_Collection_Honorverse)


End file.
